• About
  • Toolkit topics
  • Resources
  • Case studies
  • Governance watch
  • Contact
  • Home
  • 01 Understanding governance
    • 1.0 Understanding governance
    • 1.1 The important parts of governance
    • 1.2 Indigenous governance
    • 1.3 Governance in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations
    • 1.4 Case studies
  • 02 Culture and governance
    • 2.0 Culture and governance
    • 2.1 Indigenous governance and culture
    • 2.2 Two-way governance
    • 2.3 Case studies
  • 03 Getting started
    • 3.0 Getting started on building your governance
    • 3.1 Assessing your governance
    • 3.2 Mapping your community for governance
    • 3.3 Case studies
  • 04 Leadership
    • 4.0 Leadership for governance
    • 4.1 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership
    • 4.2 The challenges of leadership
    • 4.3 Evaluating your leadership
    • 4.4 Youth leadership and succession planning
    • 4.5 Building leadership capacity to govern
    • 4.6 Case studies
  • 05 Governing the organisation
    • 5.0 Governing the organisation
    • 5.1 Roles, responsibilities and rights of a governing body
    • 5.2 Accountability: what is it, to whom and how?
    • 5.3 Decision making by the governing body
    • 5.4 Governing finances and resources
    • 5.5 Communicating
    • 5.6 Future planning
    • 5.7 Building capacity and confidence for governing bodies
    • 5.8 Case studies
  • 06 Rules and policies
    • 6.0 Governance rules and policies
    • 6.1 What are governance rules?
    • 6.2 Governance rules and culture
    • 6.3 Running effective meetings
    • 6.4 Policies for organisations
    • 6.5 Case studies
  • 07 Management and staff
    • 7.0 Management and staff
    • 7.1 Managing the organisation
    • 7.2 The governing body and management
    • 7.3 Managing staff
    • 7.4 Staff development and training
    • 7.5 Case studies
  • 08 Disputes and complaints
    • 8.0 Dealing with disputes and complaints
    • 8.1 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous approaches
    • 8.2 Core principles and skills for dispute and complaint resolution
    • 8.3 Disputes and complaints about governance
    • 8.4 Your members: dealing with disputes and complaints
    • 8.5 Organisations: dealing with internal disputes and complaints
    • 8.6 Practical guidelines and approaches
    • 8.7 Case studies
  • 09 Nation building and development
    • 9.0 Governance for nation rebuilding and development
    • 9.1 What is nation rebuilding?
    • 9.2 Governance for nation rebuilding
    • 9.3 Governance for sustained development
    • 9.4 Networked governance
    • 9.5 Kick-starting the process of nation rebuilding
    • 9.6 Case studies
  • Glossary
  • Useful links
  • Acknowledgements

About

In the toolkit you will find a comprehensive collection of text, visual and audio resources about ways to customise governance to suit local and culturally diverse situations. There are stories about innovative ideas and practices, and strategies and tools that will support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to determine for themselves how best to build effective and legitimate governance systems.

This website draws on the pioneering research of the Indigenous Community Governance Project  in Australia, and is updated regularly with the success stories of the Indigenous Governance Awards. The case studies, insights and tips come straight from the personal experience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians working on the ground with their own communities and organisations.

The toolkit is not a ‘one-size fits all’ solution. It draws on the diverse experiences and solutions of Indigenous peoples across Australia and internationally.

There are many challenges involved in the work of governance rebuilding and how you go about it affects the outcome. Sometimes people try to move too quickly, or take on too much, without fully appreciating just how complex this kind of change can be.

You will create more sustainable and legitimate outcomes if you take a steady incremental approach to rebuilding your governance. Achieving cultural legitimacy may mean having to experiment with different solutions.

A developmental approach to rebuilding governance starts with what is present in your community, group, Nation or organisation (skills, abilities and experience, as well as cultural values and knowledge); not what is problematic or absent.

And even when you have implemented a solution you’re happy with, you may need to adapt it in order to keep up with a changing wider environment.  So it’s worthwhile setting aside time to periodically assess the road-worthiness of your governance.

The toolkit provides only part of the picture. Its usefulness will depend on people being prepared to talk together about difficult issues such as: “What role do we want our cultural values and relationships to have in our governance process?”, “Why are our meetings badly run, or dominated by one person?”,  “How well do we communicate with each other?”, “Who are our members?”, “Why don’t we have any young leaders?”, “How do internal politics, apathy and personality conflicts effect our governance?”, “If we want to be self-determining, what should we be taking responsibility for?” and “Who really makes the decisions around here?”.

The toolkit provides educational resources, reliable tips and better-practice advice about ways to tackles these challenges. In the end, getting started and sustaining the effort comes down to a combination of several basic factors, including:

  •  having leaders committed to governance-rebuilding;
  •  being honest in your self-evaluations and realistic about your aims;
  •  putting a priority on internal consultation and open communication;
  •  being smart about using your own resources, scarce time and skills;
  •  being open to learning new ways of doing things; and
  •  keeping an eye on whether you are still on track.

As Indigenous people talk together and share their breakthroughs and solutions, they can design pathways into the future that maximise their self- determination through effective, legitimate governance.

You can view this online or download the whole Topic + Resources as a PDF

Download Toolkit

Case Studies

NPY Women’s Council – strong culture, strong women, strong communities

  NPY Women’s Council (NPYWC) was set up in 1980 and incorporated in 1994.  The organisation was founded in response to the concerns of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women throughout the APY lands.   The women were concerned about the …

Read more...

Murdi Paaki Regional Assembly

Self-determination and community control The Murdi Paaki Regional Assembly (MPRA) is comprised of the Chairs or representatives of 16 Aboriginal Community Working Parties (CWP’s) across the Murdi Paaki Region of NSW. MPRA see self-determination as the key success to their …

Read more...

NPY Women’s Council: Building your cultural guiding principles into your rulebook

The NPY Women’s Council became incorporated under new legislation in 2008. The council undertook a significant period of consultation with its members—spread across a large geographic region—in the lead-up to lodging its new rulebook (formally known as the constitution) with …

Read more...

News

ORIC Top 500 Report 2014-15

The Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations (ORIC) released the 2014-2015 top 500 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations report in December 2015. This is ORIC’s seventh report on the top 500 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations. It collates and …

Read more...

Social Justice Commissioner launches 2014 Social Justice and Native Title Report

Mr Mick Gooda is the current Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner. The Commissioner has a unique role at the Australian Human Rights Commission, responsible for advocating for the recognition of the rights of Indigenous Australians. As part …

Read more...

Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage: Key Indicators 2014 Report

The Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage report: Key Indicators 2014 (OID Report) was released by the Productivity Commission in November 2014. The OID Report measures the wellbeing of Australia’s Indigenous peoples. The report provides information about outcomes across a range of strategic …

Read more...

The Australian Indigenous Governance Institute

The Australian Indigenous Governance Institute is a unique Indigenous led national centre of governance knowledge and excellence. We know that practically effective and culturally legitimate governance is the staple building block for delivering real change.

We assist Indigenous Australians in their diverse efforts to determine and strengthen their own sustainable systems of self-governance by identifying world-class governance practice, informing effective policy, providing accessible research, disseminating stories that celebrate outstanding success and solutions, and delivering professional education and training opportunities.

  • Home
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Copyright